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No bread is an island

...entire of itself. (With apologies to John Donne!)

I live and breathe breadmaking. I’m an evangelist who would like everyone to make his or her own bread. I want to demystify breadmaking and show it as the easy everyday craft that it is. To this end I endeavour to make my recipes as simple and as foolproof as I possibly can.

I call my blog 'No bread is an island' because every bread is connected to another bread. So a spicy fruit bun with a cross on top is a hot cross bun. This fruit dough will also make a fruit loaf - or Chelsea buns or a Swedish tea ring...

I'm also a vegan, so I have lots of vegan recipes on here - and I'm adding more all the time.

About Me

Torn away from the bosom of my family at the tender age of 18 - and never lived in my home town of Blackburn again. The RAF took me to HK; After a hitch of four years I emigrated to Australia and joined the RAAF, which took me to HK where I met my wife of 43 years. I then joined GCHQ which took me (us, with 2 children now) back to HK. Retired at 55, trained as a teacher of adults, gained a 2:1 in Teaching and Training at Plymouth Uni (which I thought went well with the 2 'O' levels with which I left school). And I've been teaching breadmaking ever since. Now running 6 or 7 classes a week, plus the odd Saturday workshop. My passion is breadmaking - or perhaps I should say the teaching of breadmaking; I'm also very interested in early development; And I like to cook - but I consider myself to be pretty average. I have a wife, two children, a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law and three grandchildren, (who can all make bread) who come and stay with us in the holidays and half-terms. Away from my family, I'm happiest teaching a Family Learning group, with parents and children, none of whom have made bread before. I get a real buzz out of turning people onto breadmaking.

Pinterest

Thursday, 3 April 2014

5:2, or INTERMITTENT FASTING - some hints and tips

5:2: if
you’re doing it for weight loss means no snacking – ever!

If you want
a treat – and who doesn’t, now and again – incorporate it into your meal. If
you do have to have something, a biscuit, say, then look at it before each
mouthful and make a conscious decision whether or not you need it.

(BTW, the
only safe way I’ve found to eat a biscuit is to take one (that’s 1!) out of the
packet on your way out of the house. Then don’t start eating it until you’re
halfway down the road.)

Other
techniques I’ve found useful:

Use smaller
plates for your evening meal

Put less on
your fork and eat each mouthful slowly, savouring the flavours.

It takes
roughly 20 minutes for your body to recognise that it has eaten – so, if you
feel like a second helping, put a timer on for 20 minutes. If you still want
something, then go ahead, but at least you’ve thought about it.

After the
evening meal, announce in a loud voice that, ”The kitchen is closed!” And mean
it!

If you do
succumb to the lure of the leftover curry on the hob late in the evening, tell
yourself, “Ah, well, that’s breakfast sorted! I’ve just had it a bit early.”

But before
you get to that stage, set the kitchen timer for 20 minutes – or drink a pint
of water – or go and do some exercise.

Wine. I’ve
reduced the amount of wine I drink by about a half. I only know this because,
whereas I used to make 20gals of wine a year, now I only make 10 gallons.

I used to
drink half a tumbler of red with my evening meals, but noticed on a couple of
occasions that the wine was disappearing without me even noticing! J So I reduced the amount I put in
the glass and tried to appreciate every mouthful. It didn’t happen overnight,
but eventually I found I could enjoy as little as 50ml with dinner. Not every
night, sometimes I have double that, but often, when I do, I still have a
centimetre or so of wine left after I’ve finished eating.

On FDs I
don’t have any alcohol, instead, with my meal I have the same tumbler filled
with iced water. The ritual and the unfamiliarity of the iced water seems to
satisfy the need for a drink whilst I’m eating. I’ve tried this on ‘normal’
days – with limited success, I have to say!